Convertible chair.



A. FAIELLA. CONVERTIBLE CHAIR. -APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24. I917.

Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

W Illa WITNESS ATTORNEY Amwa FAIELLA, or PHILADELPHIA, rnnivsrnvenm.

CONVERTIBLE CHAIR.

T1) all whomt may concern:

Be it known that I, ANTHONY FAInLLA,

a. citizen of the United States, residing at 1025 Carpenter street,Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania,have invented new and useful Improvements in Convertible Chairs, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to chairs and has particular reference to 'aconvertible and collapsible chair having features of constructionembodied therein which permit the same to be employedas a childs chair,or as the usual conventional chair, and to be Capableof being foldedwhen not in use, so as to be conveniently and compactly stored.

An object of the invention, among others, is to provide a convertiblechair having a novel folding back construction, which will render thechair applicable for seating both infants and adults, by a convenientadjustment of the folding back construction.

Another object resides in a chair ofthe above character wherein theseveral parts comprising the same are substantially hinged together, sothat when the chair is not in service it may be collapsed in a compactmanner so as to occupy a minimum of storage space.

A further object is to provide a chair embodying the above features andwhich will be stanch and durable in construction, convenient to adjustto its various serviceable or inactive. positions, and capable of beingcheaply manufactured.

Other objects Will be in part obvious and in part pointed outhereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing wherein has'been shown the preferredembodiment of the present invention- 1 Figure 1 is a p'erspectiveview ofthe chair,

illustrating the same as when employed in the capacity of an. infant?schair.

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken through the chair,and illustrating the parts thereof in the same positions as'indicated inFig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan View of the chair.

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional. View illustraing the chair in itscollapsed position, an

Fig. 5 is a view of the chair as when employed in the usual conventionalmanner.

Sim l ,cha acters of. reference denote corresponding parts throughoutthe several views of the drawing.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 26, 1918..

Application filed Marehz l, 1917. 7 Serial No. 157,164.

- Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 designatesthe chair in its entirety, and the same preferably consists of aplurality of spaced rear uprights 2 and 3, which are braced and held inparallel relation by means of the cross strips 4. The main seat 5 of thechair is hinged as at 6 to the uprights and is adapted, when the chairis in the position indicated in Fig. 1, to extend on a horizontal plane.The seat is supported in an active position through the agency ofswinging leg members 7 and 8,. which'are hinged as at "9, along theirrear surfaces to said uprights, the leg members having their upperextremities disposed in engagement with the under surface of the seat 5,so as to support the latter. Said seat is further supported in anextended position through the medium of a swinging front leg section 10,which is hinged as at 11 to the forward and lower surface of the seat 5,said section 10 being adapted to aline with the forward uprights of themembers 7 and 8, in order that clamps 12 may encircle the same, as shownin Fig. 1, so as to prevent undue movement of the members 7 8 and 10with relation to the extended seat 5, as will be clearly understood. Theclamps 12 are of a removable nature so as to be readily removed fromengagement with the supporting members in order that the latter will becapable of freely assuming collapsed positions. It will be obvious thathooks may be employed in place of the clamps 12 if found desirable.

Bythis construction, and with reference to Fig. 4 of the drawing, it;will be seen that when the chair is collapsed, the seat 5 is folded backagainst the uprights 2 and 3, and its connected leg section 10 will bein contiguous and parallel relation thereto.

Likewise, the leg members 7 and 8 are swung to folded positions in closerelation with the uprights 2 and 3, and are situated immediately belowthe folded seat 5 and its connected section 10. This construction andmethod of folding the above described elements of the chair, permits thelatter, when folded, to occupy but a minimum of space, which provides anexceedingly desirable feature when the chair is not intended forservice.

So far the chairhas been described as when it is employed. for seatingadults, however, additional features of construction are provided whichrender the chair applicable for use as an infants high chair, as well asthe ordinary chair. The additional parts of the chair which arenecessary to enable the same to be employed as a childs chair, are soarranged as to not interfere with the compact folding of the same.Moreover, when the structure of the .childs. seat or auxiliary seat isnot; being utilized, it may be folded into the back of the chair, sothat the latter will outwardly resemble the appearance of an ordinarychair, as shown in Fig. 5 of the drawing.

The structure for seating a child consists of an auxiliary seat 13,which in this instance has its rear edges provided with protrudingtrunnions 14:, the latter being adapted to extend into slots 15,vertically formed in the uprights 2 and 3. The seat 13 when in useextends forwardly in parallel relation to the main seat 5, and ismaintained in this position through the agency of a supporting frame 16,which is hinged as at 17 to the under surface of the seat 13. The frame16 is adapted to extend vertically, so that the lower edges thereofengage with the upper surface of the seat 5, whereby the weight of achild will be safely supported by the seat 13. In order to prevent theframe 16 from accidentally slipping out of place, the same may beprovided with reduced pins 18, the latter being adapted to engagewithinopenings 19 formed in the seat 5, thus preventing undue movementof the auxiliary seat. A food-supporting tray 20 is pivoted as at 21'tothe uprights 2 and 3 and the same is adapted to be swung to thehorizontal position, shown in Fig. 1, so as to be positioned in front ofa child resting upon the member 13. Stop brackets 22 carried by theuprights 2 and 3 engage with the tray 20, so as to retain the same inthe horizontal position mentioned. In order to prevent undue upwardmovement of the tray use is made of a hook 23, which is pivoted to thetray and is adapted to engage with an eye 24 provided on the seat 13,thus preventing a child from oscillating the tray so as to prevent theaccidental displacement of articles or matter deposited thereon.

When the seat 13 is not in use, the frame 16 thereof is disengaged withthe seat 5, and is folded so as to assume parallel relation with theseat 13, then the latter is swung.

to a position between the uprights 2 and 3 and is. adapted to extend inparallel relation to the latter. When in its folded position the seat 13may be employed as a back rest for the chair 1. The tray 20 is swungupon its pivots 21 so as to lie in back of Gopiea of this patent may beobtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner ofratenta,

From the foregoing it will be seen that there is provided a chairinwhich the objects of the present invention have been achieved, andthat all of the advantageous features above mentioned are, among others,present. The chair can be quicklyand conveniently adjusted to assume itsseveral operative positions, and when not in service the several partsthereof may be so compactly folded that the chair will occupy but aminimum of space when being stored. Furthermore, simple locking meansare pro vided for insuring the retention of the several parts of thechair in the various positions, and to prevent the same from becomingaccidentally displaced.

Having described the invention what is claimed as new and patentable is:

1. A chair comprising a plurality of spaced uprights, having elongatedslots formed therein, a main seat hinged to said uprights, an auxiliaryseat fulcrumed within said slots and adapted, when extended, to lie in aparallel plane above said main seat, and a supporting frame hinged tosaid auxiliary seat, and operable to engage with the main seat.

2. A chair comprising a plurality of spaced vertical uprights, a mainseat connected to the latter, an auxiliary seat fulcrumed in elongatedopenings formed said uprights, supporting legs carried by said auxiliaryseat and adapted to bear upon said main seat, to support the auxiliaryseat in an extended position, and a tray pivoted to said uprights andnormally disposed above said auxiliary and main seats, and in parallelrelation with the latter.

3. A collapsible chair comprising a pin. rality of spaced verticaluprights having elongated slots formed therein, a main seat hinged tosaid uprights, side legs hinged to the latter and operable to'normallysupport said main seat in an extended position, cooperating leg sectionshinged to the main seat and disposed in alinement with thesupportingside legs, means for preventing move.- ment of the former and lattermentioned. legs with respect to said main seat, an auxiliary seatfulcrumed within the slots of the uprights, and means for folding saidseats and their associated supporting elements in a collapsed positionwhen the chair is out of service.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signature in presenceof two witnesses.

ANTHONY FAIELLA.

Washington, D. 0.

